The Student Room Group

"Entry standards" on Times Good University Guide

On the times uni guide (in this case law), what exactly does the "entry standards" column mean?

They say:
Mean total tariff point scores on entry for first year, first degree students under 21 years of age where highest qualification on entry is any combinations of GCE 'A'/SCE 'Higher' and GNVQ/GSVQ or NVQ/SVQ at level 3 or 'A' level equivalent qualification not elsewhere specified. Entrants with zero tariffs were excluded from the calculation. Source: HESA 2004/5.


So they're saying Aberdeen (538p) entry students have an average of 4-5 A's at A level?
Reply 1
It's the total number of tariff points their average student has, counting things like music exams and General Studies etc.

The reason Aberdeen has such a high one is probably because they have a large proportion of Scottish applicants, and our exam system is a bit different (in that we do 5 Highers, which are equivalent to AS-levels in points if I recall correctly, and our GCSE-type exams count point-wise) so we get more points. I mean, I have over 800 but my exam results aren't absolutely outstanding. Plus a lot of the best Scottish applicants will go there, particularly for things like medicine and law, because (amongst other reasons) there's not a lot of universities in Scotland and a high percentage want to stay in the country (to avoid the fees, presumably).
Ah, thanks a lot Reverie. That makes sense, am relieved :smile: